Fox TV gets set for McGwire's 61st

Published 4:00 am, Sunday, September 6, 1998

McGwire hit his 60th homer Saturday, tying Babe Ruth for the second-most homers in a season and putting Sunday's St. Louis-Cincinnati game on national television. Fox will show the game at 1 p.m. PDT to about 80 percent of the country. The Arizona-Dallas football game will be seen in those areas.

Fox and ESPN are in position to show a potential record-breaking game whenever McGwire, or Sammy Sosa, hits homer No. 62.

ESPN will show the first game of the Cubs-at-Cardinals series Monday afternoon. If McGwire has not broken Maris' record by Tuesday, Fox will show the final game of the two-game series. Otherwise FX will air the game.

ESPN also will likely show the Cardinals-Pittsburgh game Wednesday, and Fox Sports Net will broadcast split national coverage of the Cardinals-Reds and Pirates-Cubs games Thursday. But if one of the sluggers is in position to break Maris' record, the game would likely move to Fox.

Fox already has committed to showing all three Cardinals games Sept. 11-13 if the record hasn't been broken.

FOOTNOTE TO HISTORY: Sam Gordon, the Sacramento restaurant owner who bought the 61st home-run baseball hit by Maris, died in his sleep Friday night at his Palm Springs residence. He was 91.

Gordon gained national attention in 1961 when he paid $5,000 to Sal Durante, a young New Yorker who caught the record-setting ball hit by Maris at Yankee Stadium. Gordon then gave the ball to Maris, who placed it on display at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.

In recent weeks, Gordon was aware that the Maris record was being challenged by McGwire and Sosa, said Bernie Richter, Gordon's son.

"He always said he wanted to live long enough to see the record broken," Richter said. "He laughed about getting a good, long run out of the Maris ball. He said he really got his money's worth from it."

BIG MONEY, FOR A CAUSE: A donor who asked to remain anonymous has offered to arrange payments totaling $1 million to the fan who catches the 62nd home run ball by McGwire or Sosa to help in the continuing search for justice in the 1980 murders of three American nuns and a lay worker in El Salvador.

"I want to raise awareness," the donor, a longtime baseball fan, told the New York Times Saturday, "and what better way to publicize the cause than to tie it to the home run derby?"

The donor, who says he wants to protect his identity because he fears for his safety, will buy a $650,000 annuity that will pay the fan $50,000 annually for 20 years. His plans are to resell the ball, and any profits above $650,000 will go to the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, a New York-based organization that represents the victims' families and promotes human rights around the world.

If there is no profit, the donor has guaranteed to make a $75,000 donation. He said he would make the same donation even if the fan declined to sell the ball and gave it to McGwire or Sosa or donated it to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

CALLS OF SEPTEMBER: The Cubs signed outfielder Orlando Merced as a left-handed bat off the bench and also recalled outfielder Matt Mieske from Triple-A Iowa. Merced started the season with the Minnesota Twins but was traded July 31 to Boston, who released him a month later. He hit .277 with five homers and 33 RBIs with the two teams.&lt;